BILL TRACKER

Each year, The Parents’ Campaign closely monitors and takes a position on several education bills. Priority bills for the 2024 Legislative Session will be added below as they move through the legislative process.

ACTIVE

House Bill 765 – extends repeal date on Mississippi Critical Teacher Shortage Act from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2027.

  • Referred to House Education Committee, 1/29/2024
  • Passed by House Education Committee, 2/28/2024
  • Amended by House to include Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program expansion, 3/12/2024
  • Passed by House as amended: 121 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent, 0 present/not voting; 3/12/2024   See vote

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

House Bill 867 – allows students to attend schools in districts where they do not reside; imposes an extensive administrative burden on school districts, requiring that they report publicly the capacity in each grade of each school that is available for out-of-district transfer students; creates a perverse incentive for current residents of school districts with a strong local tax base to relocate to a lower-taxed district but leave their children in the schools that benefit from the higher local taxes.

  • Referred to House Education Committee, 2/2/2024
  • Committee substitute passed by House Education Committee, 2/29/2024
  • Amended by House to remove requirement that districts report publicly their capacity in each grade of each school to receive transfer students; to require receiving districts to report demographic data on transfer students; to require that MDE act expeditiously in sending state funding for transfer students to receiving district upon transfer; and to provide that students who transfer at the beginning of the school year are eligible to play sports (do not have to sit out a year) but those who transfer mid-year are not eligible until following school year, 3/12/2024
  • Passed by House as amended: 68 yeas, 43 nays, 1 absent, 10 present/not voting; 3/12/2024
  • Held on a motion reconsider, 3/12/2024
  • Reconsidered for purposes of amendment; strike-all amendment includes all amendments previously passed and clarifies language regarding state funding but not local funding following the student to receiving district, 3/13/2024
  • Passed by House as amended: 85 yeas, 27 nays, 1 absent, 9 present/not voting; 3/13/2024

The Parents’ Campaign has no position on the amended version of this bill.

House Bill 1192 – allows districts to establish virtual school programs; supported by lobbyists for a national for-profit corporation that runs online schools with very poor academic track records.

  • Referred to House Education Committee, 2/14/2024
  • Committee substitute passed by House Education Committee, 2/28/2024
  • Amended by House to add a reverse repealer, 3/12/2024
  • Passed by House as amended: 79 yeas, 39 nays, 1 absent, 3 present/not voting; 3/12/2024   See vote

The Parents’ Campaign favors a nay vote on this bill.

House Bill 1453 – strikes from state law the Mississippi Adequate Education Program and replaces it with Investing in the Needs of Students to Prioritize, Impact and Reform Education (INSPIRE); has no objective formula for base student cost and no adjustment for inflation; it  removes all objective measures of the amount of funding schools need to be successful, instead allowing the Legislature to decide what schools need each year with no standard by which to measure; uses a percentage of what the Legislature chooses as the base cost to determine additional funding for concentrated poverty, special education, English language learners, gifted learners, career and technical education, and sparsity for transportation; decreases Education Enhancement Funds going to public schools; provides a process to consider closure or consolidation of districts rated F; removes current requirement for charter schools to reimburse local districts for special education services provided by district; and other provisions. 

  • Referred to House Education Committee, 2/19/2024
  • Committee substitute introduced, strikes from state law the Mississippi Adequate Education Program and replaces it with Investing in the Needs of Students to Prioritize, Impact and Reform Education (INSPIRE); has no objective formula for determining base student cost; keeps funding stagnant for three years after which an inflation adjustment is added; includes additional needs-based funding for poverty, special education, and others; current MAEP formula sets base student cost for FY 2025 at $7,465, HB 1453 reduces it to $6,650, 3/5/2024
  • Committee substitute passed by House Education Committee, 3/5/2024
  • Passed by House: 94 yeas, 13 nays, 0 absent, 15 present/not voting; 3/6/2024   See vote
  • Held in House on a motion to reconsider, 3/6/2024
  • Motion to reconsider tabled: 82 yeas, 36 nays; 3/7/2024

The Parents’ Campaign favors a nay vote on this bill.

House Bill 1823 –  appropriation for pre-K through grade 12 education; proposes a total increase in school funding of $229-million.  

  • Referred to House Appropriations Committee, 3/12/2024
  • Passed by House Appropriations Committee, 3/13/2024
  • Passed by House: 119 yeas, 0 nays, 0 absent, 3 present/not voting; 3/14/2024 

Senate Bill 2332 – amends the Mississippi Adequate Education Program to increase the maximum amount in local contribution that wealthier school districts must provide from 27% to 29.5% of the base cost; adjust the annual growth factor for non-recalculation years from 40% to 25% of the base cost and use a 20-year-average inflation rate; hold harmless for one year school districts that would lose funding due to a drop in average daily attendance; specify that 90% of MAEP funds must be spent on teacher salaries, classroom resources, and expenditures other than salaries for superintendents and principals; require that a pro-rated share of a charter student’s MAEP allocation be returned to the traditional public school if the student returns to the traditional school; and other provisions.

  • Referred to Senate Education Committee, 2/8/2024
  • Committee substitute passed by Senate Education Committee, 2/22/2024
  • Passed by Senate: 50 yeas, 0 nays, 0 absent, 2 present/not voting; 3/7/2024   See vote

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

Senate Bill 2682 – extends repeal date on Mississippi Critical Teacher Shortage Act from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2027.

  • Referred to Senate Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/19/2024
  • Passed by Senate Education Committee, 2/29/2024
  • Passed by Senate Appropriations Committee, 3/5/2024
  • Amended by Senate to include Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program expansion, 3/13/2024
  • Passed by Senate as amended: 52 yeas, 0 nays, 0 absent, 0 present/not voting; 3/13/2024   See vote

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

Senate Bill 2685 – allows retired teachers to work full time in certain critical shortage areas while receiving full PERS benefits.

  • Referred to Senate Education Committee, 2/19/2024
  • Committee substitute passed by Senate Education Committee, 2/29/2024
  • Passed by Senate: 49 yeas, 0 nays, 0 absent, 3 present/not voting; 3/7/2024   See vote

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

DEAD

House Bill 1449 – original bill establishes vouchers to pay private school tuition for all K-12 students in Mississippi; a substitute bill passed in committee sets up a study committee to evaluate the feasibility of universal vouchers for private school tuition, a measure that would provide publicly subsidized tuition for all current and new private school students statewide.

  • Referred to House Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/19/2024
  • Committee substitute passed by House Education Committee, 2/29/2024
  • Committee substitute passed by House Appropriations Committee, 3/5/2024
  • Died on calendar, 3/14/2024

The Parents’ Campaign favors a nay vote on this bill.

House Bill 1672 – amends Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program, expands eligibility to alternate route teachers, adds graduate level loans to program, program entry no longer limited to first-year teachers.

  • Referred to House Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/19/2024
  • Passed by House Education Committee, 2/28/2024
  • Died in committee, 3/5/2024

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

House Bill 1674 – provides additional $4,000 salary supplement to National Board Certified Teachers working in geographically critical teacher shortage areas; deletes list of counties designated as critical shortage areas in statute to allow MDE to make those designations in the future.

  • Referred to House Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/19/2024
  • Died in committee, 3/5/2024

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

Senate Bill 2146 – amends Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program, expands eligibility to alternate route teachers, adds graduate level loans to program, program entry no longer limited to first-year teachers.

  • Referred to Senate Education Committee, 2/2/2024
  • Died in committee, 3/5/2024

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

Senate Bill 2673 – amends Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program, expands eligibility to alternate route teachers, adds graduate level loans to program, program entry no longer limited to first-year teachers.

  • Referred to Senate Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/19/2024
  • Died in committee, 3/5/2024

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

Senate Bill 2686 – amends ESA voucher program to clarify that participating private schools must follow the program’s statutory requirements in order to receive voucher funds; says a student must be accepted by a private school before being added to the program’s waiting list. 

  • Referred to Senate Education Committee, 2/19/2024
  • Committee substitute passed by Senate Education Committee, 3/5/2024
  • Died on calendar, 3/14/2024

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

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